InquireFirst

InquireFirst was created by 18 experienced journalists determined to cut through the 20-second sound bites and 140-character Twitter feeds that too often pass as news these days. We’re committed to giving ordinary people the information and tools they need to have a voice in public policy debates that affect their daily lives—debates that are increasingly dominated by powerful business and political alliances. Our nonprofit organization includes a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, four book authors, two graphic designers, two photographers and a radio-TV broadcaster. They’re based in California, New York, Washington, North Carolina and Atlanta.

Each year InquireFirst will produce deeply reported projects on three to five under-reported topics vital to society. But our work continues where most investigative journalism ends. First, we’ll support each project with a carefully calculated distribution plan so different demographic groups receive our findings in forms that appeal to them, including podcasts, YouTube, social media or whatever new medium comes next. Then we’ll sustain those audiences with news updates, regional conferences and interactive web platforms where readers can participate in the fact-finding process. We’ll stick with our topics until the problems we expose are addressed, no matter how long the process takes.